Thermos bathtub



Jan, 2, 1934-` c. A. GOTTFRIED THERMOS BATHTUB Filed Feb. l0, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet www WWW Patented Jan. 2, 1934 Unirse Application February10, 1332.

9 Claims.

This invention relates generally to a thermos bath tub and moreparticularly to an enclosed bath tub having an electric heater of ysmallsize located thereunder, this heater being controlled '3 by an automaticswitch, the automatic switch in turn being regulated by the opening andclosing of my novel gate means, such gate means controlling the entranceof air to and from the space underneath the tub.

YOne advantage of my invention resides in the fact that the water in thebath tub, such being heated in the usual manner, may be maintainedtherein at a constant temperature for a long period of time, this beingaccomplished by my novel heating device whichtransmits a small amount ofheat to the exterior of the bath tub and hence prevents or counteractsradiation from occurring with the accomplishment of the aforesaidresult. Other objects, advantages and meritorious qualities reside inthe special construction, combination and arrangement of the variouselements forming the invention as more fully hereinafter described andclaimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming parthereof, wherein;

Fig. 1 is a side View, partly diagrammatic, of a bath tub equipped withmy invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View through the heater, wthis View being takenalong the line 3 3of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the heatermember `shown in Fig. 3. f

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the gate means or'air inlet and outlet.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken aboutcentrally of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 shows a modiiiedtype of switch whereby the rheostat of the heating element may becontrolled.

Similarl numerals refer throughout the several Views.

Referring to the drawings, especially Figs. l and 2, numeral l0designates a bath tubv having two upper sides extending outwardly andthen downwardly to form sides 1l and l2, these sides being identical inconstruction and having rectangular shaped openings 21 and 22respectively, at corresponding ends. These openings are adapted todetachably receive the gates thus controlling the passage of air to andfromvthe space underneath the bath tub. The bath tub is also closed atits ends and a strip of insulation, such to similar parts Serial N0.591,957

as asbestos paper, is placed underneath the bath tub as illustrated at13.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, 30 indicates a rectangular open framemember located inside of the opening 2l and 31 is a cooperating frame ofZ-bar shape attached thereto. These frames are bolted together.

A stationary plate 32, having a series of openings 33, is removablyfastened at the outside of the frame construction and can be bodilyremoved when desired. The openings 33 are formed by slitting the plate32 and then forcing the material outwardly and upwardly whereby theropenings are shielded and hence water cannot be splashed inwardly anddownwardly therethrough. See Fig. 6. Thus the electrical connections, tobe presently referred to, are protected.

Strips 35` and 36 are fastened at the lower and upper inner sides or"the frame thereby forming channel shaped guides for the sliding plate37. The sliding plate 37 has lower rectangular openings 38 and upperrectangular openings 39, these openings being located either directlybehind the openings 33 or else shifted so as to close the openings 33.This latter position is shown in Fig. 5 and when the plate 37 is solocated no air will pass through the gate.

A central cross bar 40 supports a snap switch il thereon and theoperating lever 42 of the switch extends into a channel member 43, this'member 43 being rigid with the sliding plate 37.

The sliding plate 37 has rigid brackets 49 extending rearwardly thereon,these brackets riding and sliding on the cross bar 40 thus giving easymovement.

A stud ifi extends through the web of the channel 43, then through thesliding plate 37 and a nut maintains these several elements together,the stud M continues through a slot in the stationary plate 32, thenthrough a washer 46 and `a locking knob 47 is threaded onto the end ofto assume an inoperative position, and vice versa.

The switch 41 has inlet electrical connections 50 leading thereirorn,these connections passing through a safety fuse 5l, a pilot light 52 anda switch 53, these elements serving the usual purposes and functions.

The switch el has the outlet wires detachably connected thereto by theplug 6l and these wires supply the heater member 62.

The heater member 62 consists of two parts, a lower member 63 ofinverted 'i' -shaped configuration and a roof member 6e, the roof memberhaving overhanging portions 65 whereby any condensation from theunderside oi the bath tub will not drip upon the heating elements 66.The heating elements 66 are contained in a continuous groove in the basemember, this base member being formed of a single unit of insulatingmaterial and having legs 67 as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The topmember 64 is detachably fastened to the bottom member 63 by means of thebolts 68.

As previously stated, the bath tub 10 has a second rectangular opening22 and this opening, for convenience in manufacture, is equipped with agate similar to the gate over the opening 21. However, the operatingmeans for the latter gate consists of a member 70 rigidly attachedthereto, the upper end of the member 70 extending through the bath tuband terminating in a knob 71 whereby the gate may be slid to and from aclosed position. The latter gate is located adjacent the wall of thebath room and the hot air duct 8l leads to the gate.

If desired the member 70 may be placed at the outside of the gate andextend upwardly interiorly of an adjacent wall, the knob 7l providingthe manual operating means in the usual manner.

Referring now to Fig. 8, 83 indicates a channel member, fastened to thesliding plate 37, similarly to the previously mentioned channel member43 and a lever 84 having a ball member 85 snugly engaged in the channelmember 83, pivotally mounted as at 86. A rheostat 87, having severalleads 88, adapted to be engaged by the contact 89 on the lever 84,provides means whereby the heat issuing from the heater 62 may becontrolled by movement of the sliding plate 37 if desired.

The operation After the switch 53 has been turned on, the knob 47 may beloosened and the sliding plate 37 shifted so the openings 33 and 39 lieimmediately behind the slots 33 and hence the space underneath the bathtub is connected with the interior of the bath room through saidopenings. The movement of the plate 37 operates the switch 41 to causethe electricity to now through the heater 62 and thus heat is given oiltherefrom. The heat given oil by the heater 62 i-lows around the outsideof the bath tub and iinaliy flows out through the openings 39 into thebath room and coeler air enters through the openings 38 to replace thesame. This is indicated by the arrows A. The heater 62 does not give onsuiilcient heat to raise the temperature of the water in the bath tubbut is only for the purpose of raising the temperature of the airunderneath the bath tub to a temperature slightly above the temperatureof the water in the bath tub, thus preventing radiation of heatoutwardly from the bath tub.

Hence the temperature ci the water in the bath tub may be maintainedsubstantially constant for a long period of time.

In the winter time, the amount of heat necessary 'to accomplish theabove function will necessarily be slightly more and I supply this heatby means of the bot air pipe flowing into the gate at the opposite sideof the bath tub. The furnace gate, regulated by the knob '71, is alsouseful in the summer time as by its adjustment the degree of heating maybe controlled. That is, the operation of the electric gate is from acompletely opened position to a completely closed position,

or vice versa, as previously explained, and by moving the furnace gate,the heat which is allowed to escape is regulated through the con- S5duit 81.

rEhe manipulation just recited may be accomplished by the mechanismillustrated in Fig. 8 whereby the usual switch construction at 41, 42and 4:3 may be replaced by a controlling rheostat 90 but such is ratherexpensive and hence the preferred forni of control is above recited, bymeans of the furnace gate.

It will be noted that the bath tub is symmetrical with regard to theopenings 21 and 22 and 95 hence it may be utilized on either side of thebath room.

I-laving thus revealed this invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure the following combinations and elements, or equivalents thereof,by 1GO Letters Patent of the United States:

1. In a bath tub arrangement of the character described, a bath tubhaving closure means extending entirely therearound whereby an enclosedair space is formed underneath the same, said closure means having anopening therethrough, a removable frame member consisting of an outerframe of Z-bar construction and a flat inner frame, said web of theZ-bar being located adjacent the edge of the opening and one flange ofthe Z-bar extending outwardly at the outside of he opening, a stationaryplate having a series of slots therethrough located against the outerside of the other flange of the Z-bar, bolt means eX- tending throughthe stationary plate Z-bar and the other frame member to detachably holdthem in position, a sliding plate located immediately behind thestationary plate, said sliding plate having openings therein wherebysaid openings may be positioned directly behind the slots in thestationary plate or else laterally positioned therefrom, thus,respectively, permitting or not permitting the passage of air throughthe structure, and means for moving the sliding plate.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 but further 125 including switchmeans controlled by the movement of the sliding plate, and a heaterunderneath the bath tub controlled by said switch means.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 but further 130 characterized by thefact that a switch means is actuated by movement of the sliding plate, aheater underneath the bath tub, said switch controlling the operation ofsaid heater and said closure means having a second opening therethroughand means for decreasing or increasing the size of said second openingfor the purpose described.

4. In a device of the class described, a bath tub having its sidescontinued outwardly and then extended downwardly in parallelism, eachside having an opening at its opposite ends, manually adjustable meansfor controlling the size of opening through both of said openings, anelectric heater located under but spaced from the bath tub and meanscontrolled by the opening and closing of the one of said openings forrespectively energizing and shutting off the flow of electricity to theheater, said heater being ener- 150 gized only when the said opening isopened for the purpose described.

5. A thermos bath tub of the type described comprising, a bath tubhaving portions extending outwardly and downwardly entirely therearoundwhereby an enclosed air space is formed underneath the same, means toopen the enclosed space to connect it with the space exterior thereof,electric means under the bath tub, and snap switch means for saidelectric means, lost motion means controlled by the movement of thefirst mentioned means to operate said snap switch means whereby theelectric means is energized.

6. In a thermos bath tube apparatus of the type described, a bath tubadapted to receive warm water therein, heating means located below andspaced therefrom, closure means adapted to be operated to either permitor prevent air from flowing over said heating means, switch means forthe said heating means and additional means operated by the closuremeans to prevent energization of the heating means unless the closuremeans is in such position as to permit air to flow thereover.

7. In a construction `of the class described having a rectangularopening, an open frame member positioned against one side of theopening, a second open frame member positioned against the other side ofthe opening, means for fastening these two frame members together,strips fastened to the iirst mentioned frame member at its top andbottom sides and extending inwardly therefrom, a plate fastened to thesecond mentioned frame member, said plate having a series of openingstherein, and a sliding plate located between the said strips and thesaid plate for the purpose described.

8. A construction as set forth in claim 7 in which said sliding plate isfastened onto the first mentioned plate whereby the same may be bodilyremoved from the said open frame members.

9. In a device of the class described, a bath tub having its sidesextending downwardly, an opening in one of said sides whereby air mayflow therethrough, an electric heater located underneath the bath tubbut spaced therefrom and means controlled by the opening and closing ofthe said opening for respectively energizing and shutting oi the flow ofelectricity to the heater, said heater being energized only when thesaid opening permits the passage of air therethrough.

CARL A. GOTTFRIED.

